Emirates Team New Zealand Announces 38th America’s Cup Venue and Team Changes
Emirates Team New Zealand and the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, together with the government of Italy, have announced Italy as the Host Country and Naples as the Host City for the Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup, to be held in spring and summer 2027. The announcement was made Wednesday on the America’s Cup website.
“I couldn’t be more excited to announce Naples, Italy, as the Host Venue of the Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup. There is a raw spirit and absolute pride in Italy that seems so appropriate to have the next America’s Cup here,” Team New Zealand CEO Grant Dalton said in the press release. Naples hosted two America’s Cup World Series events in the lead-up to the 34th America’s Cup in 2012 and 2013, which local event officials estimate attracted more than one million people to watch the racing from the Naples waterfront during the weeklong event.
In the same week, Team New Zealand has announced its new AC crew lineup, with Australia’s Nathan Outteridge promoted to skipper. The role was made vacant when Olympic gold and silver medalist Peter Burling and Outteridge and team management were unable to reach an agreement in discussions that began after Barcelona.
Outteridge, also an Olympic gold and silver medalist, held the role of the New Zealand port helmsman during the America’s Cup in Barcelona, Spain, last year. Outteridge is likely to move into the starboard helmsman position, with Sam Meech and British Olympic medalist Chris Draper as probable candidates for the port helm role. The move of recruiting a non-national to the team suggests the Kiwis may be relaxing the strict nationality rules they put in place after winning the Cup in Bermuda in 2017.
At this point New Zealand’s core team consists of Nathan Outteridge (skipper), Andy Maloney, Blair Tuke, Sam Meech, and Chris Draper, with more announcements to be made. And with the team placings in the throes of being finalized, Team New Zealand’s efforts will go toward defending the America’s Cup for the third consecutive time.
To our knowledge, Peter Burling is continuing his role as CEO and driver for SailGP Team New Zealand.
S.F. Sea Scouts Banquet Supports Generations of Sailors
The San Francisco Sea Scout annual fundraiser, a reunion banquet for community supporters and former Sea Scouts of all generations, was held on May 10 at the Elks Club in San Francisco. Program director Tamara Sokolov shared great news about the evening.
Our event was a great success! We had 130 guests in attendance, with 11 different Sea Scout groups being represented. We raised nearly $40,000 for the Sea Scout programs in S.F. and had alumni from all generations come together to support scouting.
The event commenced with a color guard ceremony by the scouts and the national anthem performed by Frances Peterson, a former member of the Sea Scout Ship Mark Christi, and a professional singer who has performed with the S.F. Opera. Current Sea Scout youth leader Simran Phojanakong, from the Sea Scout Ship Viking (2023–2024 BoatUS National Flagship), gave a speech on the current state of Sea Scouting and the impact it has made in her life. Of the event, Simran said, “It was so inspiring to see so many generations of Sea Scouts. It’s like we share a common bond despite our age differences, and it made me feel honored to participate in this event where we’re working together to keep Sea Scouting strong for future generations.”
Our keynote speaker was Doug Fischer, who grew up on SSS Corsair and went on to lead as its skipper for three years in the ’90s. Doug now owns and operates a leadership development camp in the Sierra, and he spoke about the importance now, more than ever, of pushing boundaries, learning through experience, and the value of outdoor leadership and adventure programs such as Sea Scouting.
Guest honoree Terry Moran also grew up in Sea Scouting and spoke about the profound impact it had on his life.
All in all this was an inspiring event, and a wonderful gathering of alumni across generations. We are so thankful to our supporters for their continued support.
Help the Sea Scouts reach their goal of $100,000. Every registration to the dinner and every donation received helps them achieve their mission of providing Sea Scouting for generations to come. Donate here.
Learn more about S.F. Sea Scouts.
Join the 34th Annual Delta Ditch Run
Sailing Doesn’t Have To Be Expensive
Reader Jon Barber gives his thoughts on how sailing can be inexpensive.
Last weekend I sailed from Richmond to OYC, spent the night, and in the morning continued on to S.F. Marina Green for another overnight. The next morning, back to Richmond.
My costs:
Launch – $35.00
OYC overnight – $30.00
S.F. overnight – $35.00
Fuel – $65.00
Total – $165.00
I live in Modesto and haul my Montgomery 17 to the Bay Area to participate in events held by the Potter Yachters. We sail all over Northern California from Monterey Bay to High Sierra reservoirs. Our yearly schedule can be viewed at www.potter-yachters.org, as well as a monthly newsletter (with an archive that goes back many years).
We are a friendly group and encourage anyone interested in low-impact sailing to join us. We are a PICYA-affiliated club. This means you may be welcomed to overnight at various yacht clubs in and around Northern California and beyond.
Most of our members keep their boats at home on trailers, thus no slip fees! Since I joined in 2015, I have sailed more than 2000 miles. We have members with boats from 15- to 26-ft. We look out for each other. Safety in numbers! Our dues are $50/yr.
You can participate in sailing at a reasonable cost. – Jon Barber, Montgomery 17, Ol’ 44.
We couldn’t agree more, Jon. We don’t always need big boats with big costs. People have tons of fun aboard Montgomerys, Dolphins, and many other sailboats under 30-ft long. Below are three such boats for sale right now!
12.3 FT Beetle Cat 2005, Novato — $3,000 OBO.
15 FT Sagecat 2017, Novato — $15,000.
24 FT J/24 2004, Santa Barbara — $14,999.
Here’s a story about the Potter Yachters’ annual sail to Catalina last year.
- Community Sailing
- West Coast Sailing
- Commentary
- General Sailing
- Latitude 38 Magazine
- Maritime History
VetsBoats Brings New Life to SV ‘Clover’
Back in the late 1970s, a majestic 68-ft sloop named Clover called Sausalito home, whence she raced the Bay’s waters and operated as a charter boat. Decades passed, and her condition waned. By 2015, she lay in significant disrepair at the Oakland Yacht Club, kept afloat only by constantly running bilge pumps that seemed only to pause her inevitable demise. Fortunately, less than a year later, she was donated to the nonprofit VetsBoats, an organization aimed at improving veterans’ mental health through sailing and wooden boat restoration.
VetsBoats founder Terry Moran’s relationship with Clover began unknowingly in 1977 when his 10-year-old eyes spied her racing that year’s Master Mariners regatta from aboard his parents’ 48-ft Alden cutter Elan. “She was this gigantic Marconi-rigged behemoth shouldering aside the chop as if there was none, like she was a locomotive on tracks, leaving a sizzling, steaming wake in her path,” Terry recalls.
He never forgot that day, which left a “lifelong impression” on him. Remarkably, it wasn’t until after Clover was donated to VetsBoats and her restoration began that he recognized her as the same boat he’d seen decades earlier.
Clover was commissioned by Royal Naval Reserve Officer Eric Thompson in 1938, designed by Albert Luke, and built at the A.R. Luke Brothers boatyard in Hamble, England. She displaced 50 tons, had a full keel, was framed in double-sawn oak, and was wrapped in traditional carvel-planked pine. Soon after her completion, she was loaned by Thompson to the Royal Admiralty and lightly used by the Coastal Command prior to England’s declaration of war in 1939. Thompson later took her to the Mediterranean and sold her in 1960. Notably, in the 1970s she was bought by “Billy Bones” Pringle and sailed from the Caribbean to Sausalito, where he installed a Marconi rig and sailed her regularly. Over the years, she was passed among a variety of owners. Eventually, the Deckard family purchased her, and she continued plying the Bay’s waters for yet another decade. While they were outfitting her for cruising, a family matter sidetracked the project, and Clover’s situation took a turn for the worse. When VetsBoats took ownership, her exterior was in complete disrepair, while much of the glorious craftsmanship below still shone.
Learn to Race With Modern Sailing
